Are You Starting to Forget?
March 19, 2009
There’s a beautiful story about a little boy who couldn’t wait for his new baby sister to come home from the hospital. He couldn’t wait to be near her, to talk to her. But his parents didn’t want him to be left alone with her. After all he was only four years old, so they wanted to supervise his visits. He kept begging to be alone with her, so one night his parents finally relented. The boy tiptoed into her room, stood next to his sister’s crib and said: “Tell me about God – I’m starting to forget.”
There are times when we as adults get so caught up in the “rat race” and all of our responsibilities. Perhaps we need to go to the children around us and say, “Tell me about God — I’m starting to forget.”
There are weeks when we’ve been dealing with irate customers and heavy traffic. We need to fellowship with the saints and worship God together because “I’m starting to forget.”
There are weeks when we’ve had to focus on crying babies, the paying of bills and doctors’ appointments. We need the reminder of the Lord’s Supper to see God’s love and grace because “I’m starting to forget.”
There are days when we’re so caught up in deadlines at work and getting the kids to soccer practice, days when we need to slow down a bit and spend time with God in prayer because “I’m starting to forget.”
Deuteronomy 4:9 ”Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life.”
Are you starting to forget? Ask someone to tell you about God once more. - TFTD
The Resurrection of Christ
March 19, 2009
I Corinthian 15
1Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…
Beware the Quick Fix
March 16, 2009
“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Romans 5:3-4 TNIV).
“Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run; hurry and scurry puts you further behind” (Proverbs 21:5 MSG).
Although our intellects know better, something about human beings continues to make us suckers to the idea of a quick fix. So entrepreneurial hucksters regularly come along with goofy ideas that garner millions. Then they move on and leave no forwarding address.
Western obsession with weight and appearance seems to make us particularly susceptible to claims about products that promise fitness without effort, weight loss without sweat. One company made big money selling its anti-cellulite sneakers. Another touts electrical muscle stimulation and weight-loss water. People love to think they’ve found an easy way to their goals.
Doctors and fitness experts tell us that healthy eating combined with regular exercise is the best way to slim down. One requires self-discipline, and the other is work. Who wants to pay the price of either, when there is a no-strain, no-pain alternative? Who doesn’t want to think there is an easier way?
In other contexts, it is the person who deceives himself into thinking he can continue to drink after a couple of DUIs and a job loss. It is the one who tells herself that an “innocent flirtation” at the office means nothing. It is parents who refuse to take seriously their child’s brush with the law. It is a family trying to get all it wants with credit cards instead of saving. It is the person who won’t own up to responsibility and apologize for betraying a confidence and hurting a friend.
Want to know why counseling doesn’t work for many troubled marriages?
It turns up areas of the relationship that need work over time. But immature and selfish people want a quick fix.
Perseverance over time in pursuit of a noble and worthwhile goal.
Want to know why so many companies fail? It will take too much hard work over too long a period of time to correct problems, replace incompetent people, and penetrate new markets. Lacking a quick fix, there is bankruptcy.
Want to know why once-thriving churches die? Somebody gets hooked on the notion that spirituality is a new program or gimmick rather than fruit-bearing by the gentle presence of the Holy Spirit. So members go church-hopping again.
One of the virtues that gets too little attention these days is persistence. Not stubbornness. Not “pig-headedness” and inflexibility.
But perseverance over time in pursuit of a noble and worthwhile goal.
It is interesting to me that the Bible places perseverance midway between suffering and character (Romans 5:3-4). There’s just no shortcut from one to the other. - Rubel Shelly
Twitter Digest
March 16, 2009
- The Welcome Merkel Group will meet Sunday to visit the newcomers in Merkel and hand out welcome bags. Meet at the building at 5:00pm. 00:00:49
- March 29th is our 5th Sunday Singing. For our fellowship bring soup, chili, sandwiches, and desserts. 00:02:26
- Deacon’s meeting today 17:48:58
- Feed Merkel this Wed. starting at 5:30 at the FC 18:34:37
Return to Your First Love
March 15, 2009
Before And After Falling In Love……
B – You take my breath away
A – I feel like I’m suffocating
B – She says she loves the way I take control of the situation
A – She called me a controlling, manipulative egomaniac
B – Saturday Night Fever
A – Monday Night Football
B – He makes me feel like a million dollars
A – If I had a dime for every stupid thing he’s done…
B – The Sound of Music
A – The Sound of Silence
B – $60/dozen
A – $1.50/stem
B – We agree on everything!
A – Doesn’t she have a mind of her own?
B – Ideal
A – Idle
B – I love a woman with curves
A- I never said you were fat
B – He’s completely lost without me
A – Why won’t he ever ask for directions?
B – Time stood still
A – This relationship is going nowhere
B – You look so seductive in black
A – Your clothes are so depressing
B – I can hardly believe we found each other
A – I can’t believe I ended up with someone like you
Those of you who have been married a while can relate to the above. Even if your relationship has improved through the years, there was something about those early years — the excitement and thrill of first falling in love — that causes you to look back with a sigh. One of the secrets of a successful marriage is found in striving to recapture the excitement of those early years in the midst of our commitment to longevity.
That’s also one of the secrets of living the Christian life. If you’ve been a Christian for a number of years, chances are you can look back at the time when you first “fell in love” with Christ. There was an excitement that accompanied the newness of your Christian life. But, the newness wore off and, after a while, Christian living may have become somewhat mundane. We need to strive to recapture the excitement of those early years in the midst of our commitment to longevity.
“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works….” (Rev. 2:4-5a)
It is important that we remember and recapture that excitement of being a child of God — the feeling of being cleansed of sin, the desire to share our excitement with everyone else we know, the intention to do everything we can to serve the One we love with all our hearts.
May you never lose that first love. But, if you have lost it, may you seek to recapture it. - TFTD
Twitter Digest
March 15, 2009
- We need L and XL kitchen gloves for Lubbock Children’s Home. The truck will be here in May to collect. 23:59:29
Worship Leaders for Sunday, March 15 2009
March 15, 2009
|
Worship Leaders |
Sunday Morning Mar. 15, 2009 |
Sunday Evening Mar. 15, 2009 |
Wednesday Mar. 18, 2009 |
| Sermon/Devo | Michael Bryan | Michael Bryan | Dustin Simmons |
| Song Leader | Lou David Allen | Lou David Allen | Burl McCoy |
| Opening Prayer | Billy Lucas | Joel Owens | Lou David Allen |
| Closing Prayer | Lane Boyd | Jim Goldsmith | Tim Walker |
| Scripture | |||
| Lord’s Table | Jim Jacobs Rick Buczyna Jerry Miller Jason Myers Billy Bob Toombs |
Jim Jacobs | |
| Pick Up Cards | Tyler Jones Kyle Owens |
Call the office at 928-5024 and leave a message if you cannot serve as listed | |
| Worship Helpers | Cody Buczyna Jonathan Juarez |
||
| Nursing Home | Logan Cravens | ||
One Thing Leads to Another
March 14, 2009
The story is told of a country lad who was hired for a salesman’s job at a city department store. It was one of those massive stores that has every department imaginable. In fact it was the biggest store in the world – you could get anything there.
The boss said, “You can start tomorrow, Friday morning, and I’ll come and see you when we close up.”
When the boss looked up the young man the next day at closing time, he saw him shaking hands with a beaming customer. After they parted, he walked over and asked, “Well, that looked good! How many sales did you make today?”
“That was the only one,” said the young salesman.
“Only one!?!” blurted the boss. “Most of my staff make 20 or 30 sales a day. You’ll have to do better than that! Well, how much was the sale worth?”
“$227,340 and change,” said the young man.
The boss paused for a moment, blinking a few times. “H… H… How did you manage that?!?”
“Well, when he came in this morning and I sold him a small fish hook. Then, I sold him a medium hook, and then a really large hook. Then I sold him a small fishing line, a medium one, and then a big one. I then sold him a spear gun, a wetsuit, scuba gear, nets, chum, and coolers. I asked him where he was going fishing and he said down the coast. We decided he would probably need a new boat, so I took him down to the boat department and sold him that twenty-foot schooner with the twin engines. Then, he said that his Volkswagen probably wouldn’t be able to pull it, so I took him to the car department and sold him the new Deluxe Cruiser, with a winch, storage rack, rust proofing, and a built-in refrigerator. Oh, and floor mats.”
The boss took two steps back and asked in astonishment, “You sold all that to a guy who came in for a fish hook?!”
“No,” answered the salesman. “He came in to buy a blanket.”
“A blanket?”
“Yeah, an extra blanket for the couch. He just had a fight with his wife. I said to him, ‘Well, your weekend’s ruined, so you may as well go fishing…’”
One thing leads to another. And that’s the way it should work in our spiritual lives. An old Chinese proverb says, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” So it is with Christianity. We look ahead to where we want to be, and we take a step. Then another. And another. As we grow and mature in Christ, we continue to add virtue upon virtue.
“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.” (2 Peter 1:5-7).
Wherever you are in your spiritual life, I pray that you’ll take a step up today, adding something that will make you a little more in the image of Jesus Christ. As you add one thing to another, you will be much closer to that goal by the end of 2009. - TFTD
Resolutions
March 14, 2009
At the beginning of a New Year, a high school principal decided to post his teachers’ New Year’s resolutions on the bulletin board. As the teachers gathered around the bulletin board, a great commotion started. One of the teachers was complaining. “Why weren’t my resolutions posted?” She was throwing such a temper tantrum that the principal hurried to his office to see if he had overlooked her resolutions. Sure enough, he had mislaid them on his desk.
As he read her resolutions he was astounded. This teacher’s first resolution was not to let little things upset her in the New Year.
It has been said that “nothing is certain but death and taxes.” Perhaps we should add one more thing to that list of certainties — the breaking of New Year’s resolutions! Looking back on 2008, you may be one of the fortunate ones who accomplished exactly what you hoped to accomplish during the year. But, if you’re like most of us, you didn’t read all the way through the Bible like you intended to, you quit some other kind of bad habit but only for a while then picked up the habit again. After experiencing this failure year after year, a person tends to say to himself, “What’s the use? Why even bother to try to make these changes?”
As an old Chinese proverb puts it, though, “Failure is not falling down. Failure is not getting back up.” Or as the Japanese put it, “Fall down seven times, get up eight.” If there are areas of your life that you’ve tried to improve and failed, let this be the month that you try again. And if you fail this month, get up and try again next month. Learn from your mistakes and become stronger. God does not turn His back on the Christian who fails (if you question that, you need only look at the story of Peter’s denial of Christ). However, He cannot help the Christian who refuses to try any longer.
“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hearts, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded….Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” (James 4:7-8, 10)
If you have made a resolution to develop a habit that will bring you closer to God or a resolution to get rid of a habit that is pulling you away from God, may God bless you with the strength to accomplish your goal. And, if you should stumble on your journey, may He pick you up and dust you off so that you can continue on the long journey of becoming like Christ. -TFTD
